March Read: Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was born into a tightly controlled society at a time when women were discouraged from achieving anything beyond a proper marriage. Wharton broke through these strictures to become one of America’s greatest writers. Author of The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and The House of Mirth, she wrote over 40 books in 40 years, including authoritative works on architecture, gardens, interior design, and travel. She was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Yale University, and a full membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

A complete biography and information about her estate, The Mount, can be found on the official site

This should get things started. Has anyone decided what to read yet?

I know I'm going to start with Ethan Frome because I've been meaning to read it for quite a while. Not sure what to pick after that, possibly The House of Mirth.

>1 lauralkeet: Thank you so much, Laura. I'm sorry I was tardy. I'll be setting up the voting thread for April, May and June later today (based on authors we've just nominated and seconded).

I've actually read my first Wharton already; I finished it last night. It was Twilight sleep, one of the very few of her novels that I hadn't read before. It's fairly light, a social satire on the lives and concerns of the upper classes in 1920s Manhattan. The glimpses we see of Pauline's hectic life, packed with causes, crusades and quests for spiritual enlightenment are funny until we see how blind she is to the unhappiness in her family. I very much enjoyed this, while acknowledging that it's not among her greatest works.

I'm also planning to reread Hudson River bracketed and proceed to The gods arrive which will be a first read for me.

I added photos and biographical information to the opening message.

I've read a lot of Wharton over the years and she is one of my favorite authors. I still have several unread Wharton VMCs on my shelves. I will most likely read The Glimpses of the Moon. I very much want to read Hudson River Bracketed but it is a longer work and I'm also reading Trollope's The Duke's Children in a group read this month so I will have to see how things go.

Thanks to my VSS I have The Reef on my TBR, so will go with that. I also have The Mother's Recompense, but may not get to that in the same month. I will also be looking at some of Wharton's work on gardening to go with her month.

A couple of days ago I finished The Mother's Recompense, which I loved. I have Twilight Sleep and The Custom of the Country unread on my shelves, and I'm also considering re-reading The House of Mirth, which I read many years ago.

I've only read The Age of Innocence and a few short stories. This month I hope to read The House of Mirth and maybe some more short stories.

I have tons of very tempting Whartons on the shelf and it's hard to choose. Had I more reading time at the moment I would go for The Gods Arrive but I may have to plump for something shorter like the ghost stories, or Roman Fever or even Fighting France.

Roman Fever! Best last line in literature!

That's recommendation enough for me! :)))

Although I'd argue for the last line of Every Eye by Isobel English

>10 Liz1564: >11 kaggsy: oh well! Now I will have to read both of those won't I? :)

:) definitely!

I will be reading Wharton's The Touchstone for March's VMC challenge.

(Edited to change book choice to Madame de Treymes ;-)

>2 europhile:
Grant, I read Ethan Frome for the first time for a high school literature class back in the mid sixties and fell in love with Wharton's words & writing style immediately. Most of the kids hated it but it sent me to the library for more of her works. So many rereads of it over the years........... I hope you love it as well. It is a bit dark.

>14 rainpebble: So many rereads of it over the years...

What a great tribute to a book.

None on my TBR and all the review books to read so am going to duck out of this one. Have fun!

I looked through my books by Wharton and found only three I have not read (9 I have read). I opted for Madame de Treymes because it is 4 novellas and easy to pick up and put down. I began the title story last night and liked it so much I finished it (about 70 pages).

>17 romain:
I didn't realize that Madame de Treymes contained 4 novellas, one of which is The Touchstone, so I will enjoy reading the entire book. If I had the physical book here with me I would have known that. (doh!) But I have it on Kindle alone & now I have loaded the other 3.
psst: we can be twins, Barbara. lol

Yes Belva! I had no idea what the book was about either. I realize I've read several others of hers from the library, (including Ethan Frome, Glimpses of the Moon and Summer) so I think I am coming to the end of her collection. My faves are The House of Mirth and The Custom of the Country both of which are brilliant.

I've just started rereading Hudson River Bracketed.

There were several on my shelf, but the roomy and dark printing of my copy of The Reef settled it for me. *waves to SassyLassy*
Just two library books between me and it now, but they're skinny little things and don't stand a chance!

I finished In Morocco last night. I picked this up at a charity shop last year. It is a reprint of a travel book first published in 1920 about a month Edith spent in that country just after the end of the First World War. Some aspects of it are necessarily dated (it's nearly a century old, after all!), and parts of it do sound like propaganda for her hosts, the French Government's colonial administration. She was accompanying the Resident General and his wife, who transported her around by military vehicle, and was able to visit places not then accessible to foreign visitors. It was an interesting and quick read and a good introduction to her travel writing. I do hope to visit Morocco myself some day...

Just finished The House of Mirth. I know you all know this already but what an amazing book, what an amazing author! I'd only read The Age of Innocence before and enjoyed The House of Mirth even more.

I'm glad you liked it so much Dee. Custom of the Country is even better!!!

>24 romain: Recommendation indeed, Barbara!

I read a reviewer who said they find Wharton's earlier books more readable and less brittle in tone and wonder if other agree?

>23 Soupdragon: hurray! I loved that one too.
>24 romain: and I agree. The Custom of the Country is my favorite Wharton!
>25 Soupdragon: I seem to prefer her earlier books although I haven't stopped to ask myself why ...

>23 Soupdragon: I loved that book so much. Glad you did too.

I'm very fond of Ethan Frome and have read several other Wharton works as well as the R.W.B. Lewis biography, Edith Wharton: A Biography, that caused a stir years ago. I also liked Summer, another short novel that reminds me of Ethan Frome though it's less dark. The House of Mirth has been criticized for anti-Jewish overtones. It's been years since I read it but I'm not sure I saw that element in it at the time when I read it.

>28 wordswordswords: Yes, one of the characters in The House of Mirth is Jewish and negatively stereotyped as brash, common and obsessed with making money. An unpleasant stereotype which did make me uncomfortable. Then again, the book was published in 1905 and the contrasting arrogant, privileged old monied types don't come off particularly well either.

Just finished my reread of Hudson River Bracketed. This "portrait of the artist as a young man" is a fascinating look at the life of a struggling young writer and contains some insightful passages about the creative process. It is a flawed book though, in that Wharton seems unable to decide whether Vance is heroic or a selfish monster. We certainly sympathise with him and want him to succeed in spite of the horrible people who have signed away his creative freedom, but Vance is a careless creature of thoughtless impulses which cause others to suffer - not least his poor wife. I very much enjoyed the satirical look at literary society in 1920s New York society and found the plot kept me gripped as Vance tries and fails to balance the world from which he came with that in which he finds himself. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, The gods arrive, for the first time.

I joined this group at the beginning of the year to encourage me to get through some of the VMCs sitting on my shelves. I had too many books already on the go last month to get down to some Rebecca West, but I've done better this month and have just started The House of Mirth. Two chapters in and I'm already loving it!

>28 wordswordswords:, >29 Soupdragon: - The description of Mr Rosedale as somehow representative of Jews in general makes me uncomfortable too, but I suppose this is how New York high society at the time would have viewed him.

>30 Sakerfalcon: I read this for the first time last year, Claire, and I really enjoyed it. I'd like to get on to the follow up this month but I don't know if I will as it's the busiest time of the year for me at work. I agree that it's flawed in the way you say, but nevertheless very enjoyable and gripping.

Started reading Roman Fever first two stories were brilliant.

Wharton is one of my favorite authors. I'm going to reread The Glimpses of the Moon. As I recall it wasn't one of my

favorites but I am embarked on a rereading of all of her books. I recently borrowed from the library her trilogy Ethan

Frome, Summer and the Bunner Sisters and loved each one of them. The former two works were set in the Berkshire

Hills of Massachusetts where she had a summer home. A few years ago, I visited her home "The Mount" and it's beautiful.

Each of the works was a departure from her usual portrayals of upper class life in New York.

Yes, The Mount is a nice estate with lovely gardens and even a cemetery for her dogs! Anyone wishing a virtual tour of sorts can find a link to Wharton's official site in >1 lauralkeet:.

I raced through Roman Fever thoroughly enjoyed every story.

>36 Heaven-Ali:
Aren't Wharton's short stories just the best, Ali? I love them and keep a volume (it doesn't matter which one) on my night stand at all times.

Finished Ethan Frome last night. I saw a film version of it years ago but didn't have much memory of it except a general atmosphere of bleakness and isolation. I'm not sure what I thought of the book yet, will have to ponder it for a while. I've also been reading Edith Wharton's Italian Gardens by Vivian Russell. I have visited many of these gardens on tours to Italy. Lovely photography and not too much text, including quotes from Wharton's original book Italian Villas and their Gardens.

So far I'm 50 pages into The Reef and was reminded again, almost immediately, that I tend to assume, when I begin these novels, that the characters are much older than turns out to be the case. I'm picturing George Darrow as some curmudgeonly old man (and partly because he's dreaming of Anna Leath, who's already a widow), and I felt the same with the opening of THe House of Mirth, but of course that's not the case.

Just started Roman Fever - I've read the title story before, but my goodness it's a cracker!!

I've just started The gods arrive.

Finished The Reef last night and will have to do some thinking about the ending (as well as lots of other aspects of the book).

Thank you LyzzyBee for introducing me to this author.

>40 kaggsy: indeed it is!

Hi Karen,

See, best last line......

😁😁😁

The Isobel English is pretty mega too!

3/4 way through my Edith Wharton.

I reviewed Roman Fever today.

https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/03/16/roman-fever-edith-wharton-1964/

I've finished Summer and The Cruise of the Vanadis in the last couple of days. From the introduction to the former I learned that it was something of a companion to Ethan Frome in terms of its New England setting, and that it was one of Edith's favourites of her own books. I liked it and felt sorry for the main character whose choices in life were extremely limited. Obviously a lot has changed since it was published 100 years ago, but not the despicable behaviour of men towards women, regrettably.

The story of The Cruise of the Vanadis was interesting. It is an early work but unpublished in Edith's lifetime. The manuscript was found in a public library in Hyères, France, where Edith lived for a time. Basically it is a description of a steam yacht cruise around the Mediterranean she took with her husband and a male friend for a few months in 1888. Her text is accompanied by modern photographs of the places she visited (including North Africa, Sicily, Malta, Rhodes and Greece). Edith's travel writing is full of interesting descriptions of landscape, plants, costumes etc. So much so that one wonders how she knows the names for them all. Apparently she put the manuscript aside to work on her first novel but it is unknown how it ended up in the library.

I now want to read a biography (I have three to choose from!) and some short stories/novellas, possibly Old New York, though it sounds as though I should get Roman Fever from the library too.

I'm a couple of chapters from the end of The gods arrive. It's not as good as Hudson River Bracketed, and Vance continues to be inconsistently portrayed, but there is a lot of the perceptive observation that we expect from Wharton. Her examination of the relationship between Vance and Halo with all its ups and downs is interesting, although both behave frustratingly for much of the time. There are some brilliantly awful minor characters from all walks of life and more satire on the social and literary scene of the time. While this isn't a great novel, it is engaging enough that I wanted to take some of the characters and shake them at times!

>48 europhile: I have the Hermione Lee biography which I want to read, but it is a huge hardback that I can't carry around with me. If I finish the bio of Shirley Jackson, which I'm currently reading, by the end of March then I'll try and start the Wharton one.

I'm reading the illustrated biography, Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life by Eleanor Dwight. I chose this one because it was much shorter than the other two I own, by Hermione Lee and R. W. B. Lewis, and it also has a lot of pictures. I'm not sure why I 'needed' all three but they look well worth reading, just not this month.

>49 Sakerfalcon: I have the same biography and even in paperback it's a doorstop. It has languished on my TBR for ages.

Finished Roman Fever last night - what a wonderful collection of stories! I'll get my thoughts together for a review eventually.

Very glad we're doing this author of the month as it's making me read the books on my shelves!

I finished Madame de Treymes last night. Not the best Wharton I have read but still very good. My favorite of the 4 novellas was the last - The Bunner Sisters - but I also really liked the others.

I finished The Glimpses of the Moon, and wrote this short review:

Edith Wharton is known for her frank portrayal of New York society, often exposing their pettiness and hypocrisy. The Glimpses of the Moon is no exception. Nick and Susy are recently married, and while they care for one another it is primarily a marriage of convenience. Neither come from wealth, but both have recognized they could probably live for a year or more off of the wedding checks and invitations from their wealthy social circle. The novel opens during their honeymoon at an Italian villa belonging to a friend; after a few weeks they move on to another friend's property in Venice. Susy quickly finds that some of her arrangements come with a cost -- like looking after a child -- and one matter in particular comes between she and Nick. The rest of their story plays out as a classic case of two people who are completely unable to communicate openly with one another, and along the way they learn some valuable truths about the real value of material possessions.

I'm pretty sure I've read Wharton's best novels already, but this was still enjoyable,

>54 lauralkeet: I think I have this one Laura - she really is good at the hypocrisy, isn't she?

My review of Roman Fever is here:

https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/the-society-of-women/

I loved the collection - her writing is so good and her observations so sharp and astute!

I have finished Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life. This was a very readable overview of an amazingly full and interesting life, with a lot of black and white photographs of the many people and places mentioned in it. I will still want to read one or both of the longer literary biographies at a later date.

I have obtained Roman Fever from the library and am now about two-thirds of the way through it. I found that I had already read several of the stories in other collections or anthologies but they are well worth reading again. I have also just started Italian Villas and their Gardens which I may get through fairly quickly as it has large print and many illustrations. I had hoped to read The House of Mirth also but probably won't be able to fit it in before the end of the month.

I've started the Hermione Lee bio, but won't finish it by the end of the month. It is almost too detailed, with lots of information about her family, friends and society yet I'm not convinced that it is really getting far below the surface of Wharton herself.

>57 Sakerfalcon: I get very frustrated with that sort of bio!

I've finished both Roman Fever and Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Both very good indeed. I've now moved on to The Stories of Edith Wharton volume one selected by Anita Brookner, as it contains 4 or 5 stories I've already read elsewhere. I find it interesting that 'Roman Fever' is not included in either volume of her selection, however.

I finished The House of Mirth a few days ago. Of Wharton's books, I'd previously only read The Buccaneers - as a teenager, after seeing the 1995 TV adaptation - and The Age of Innocence twice (as a teenager and, again, three years ago), and I think The House of Mirth could be my favourite so far. I loved The Age of Innocence, but felt more moved by this book (tears may have been shed). More detailed comments can be found on my Club Read thread.

The House of Mirth is so sad. Tears are completely understandable.

Indeed, Laura.
And Rebeki, I just finished a reread of the wonderful The Age of Innocence as well as the deep and dark Ethan Frome, which is so beloved to me.

I have truly loved this month of Wharton. I think she is such a special author.

>62 rainpebble: I have a few more Whartons on my shelves, but not Ethan Frome or The Custom of the Country, which seem to be the others that are best loved. I'll have to rectify that at some point.

Edith Wharton has become one of my favourite authors and I'm anxious to spread the pleasure out a bit and not read everything of hers at once!

ETA >61 lauralkeet: That's good to hear! It didn't help that I've been sleeping badly (appropriately enough) and ended up finishing it in the small hours, when everything seems at its darkest!

I'm still reading The Reef; I still have trouble with her particular kind of sadness and, even though this time I knew what to expect, perhaps the March-ness of everything, combined with this darkness, was a little much. In any case, I'm determined to finish and am still hoping for some kind of saving grace for these characters!

As for those who are interested in biographies, I'm in the fourth chapter of A Feast of Words: The Triumph of Edith Wharton by Cynthia Griffin Wolff and finding it quite good. So far, it seems to be more about finding her through her fiction and I love that kind of search, even though of course it's not a complete package, and it doesn't have all the dates and details that some readers crave.

This news story about a lost Wharton play just popped up in my inbox if anyone's interested!

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-lost-edith-wharton-play-emerges-...

>65 kaggsy: Exciting! Thanks for sharing, Karen!

>66 Sakerfalcon: Very welcome, Claire! It's always exciting when lost works turn up!